charging problems
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 249
From: tennessee
charging problems
i have had my alternator tested at 2 places and it passed at both...very confusing...
i went through all wiring from alternator to solenoid and all is good but yet car is not charging...what else could i look for??????please help
i went through all wiring from alternator to solenoid and all is good but yet car is not charging...what else could i look for??????please help
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 505
From: Orange county, CA
You could have a bad battery. Check the voltage by the battery when the car is on, it should read around 13.5-14.5 (I dotn remember the range exactly) if it reads lower or higher you have a either under charging or over charging. If its within the range, your battery is probably bad.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 249
From: tennessee
when it is running it reads like around 11 volts which tells me the alternator is bad, but i had it checked at 2 different places and both say good.....when car is off battery says 12.6 volts
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 505
From: Orange county, CA
thats weird. well 12.6 volts means your battery is fully charged. But it should be loosing charge with only 11 bolts while the car is running. How long ago did you find out, you got any starting problems? You sure your measuring the voltage right? Thats just weird man.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 249
From: tennessee
that is weird, i drove the car for like a week and my ampmeter was reading low like my alt. was about to go. i only drive a couple miles to work so it never completely drained my battery, well i decided to go to town and run errands, got the car good and warmed up, stopped to get gas and it barely started, battery was drained
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 505
From: Orange county, CA
^^^ yeah, I mean it sounds liek a bad connection. Your not getting the juice from the alternator all the way to the battery. Thats the only two things, either your alternator is bad, or you cant get the juice through the wires.
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 505
From: Orange county, CA
well check the voltage right by the alternator, the positive wire coming out of it. If it doesnt read within the right range at idle, then the alternator is bad. If it reads normal, then its providing the charge, meaing your wires are screwed up.
The Rogue Mod
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 21,918
From: Maryland Sucka's!!
If you're still running the stock alt, there are 2 black w/ orange colored wires (I think) check those w/ a volt meter. They should have battery voltage. If not, you have to find out why. If they do, there's a problem somewhere else in the system.